Three Faces
by one-and-many
Summary: Zelgadis starts to lose control, and his other selves want to be free
1. InFlux

Chapter 1: In-Flux ________________________________________________________________________ This is your host, one-and-many. You can call me "Dusk" for short. I REALLY need feedback on this one. Please forgive me if I offend anyone with this. Go easy with the flames. Zel fans will either love this fic or hate it.  
  
Zelgadis had been acting strange lately. Of course, nobody knew what "normal" was for Zel, but lately he was acting stranger than ever. He was having HUGE and erratic mood swings, one moment he would skulk in a corner and glare at everyone, others he behaved almost like XELLOS of all people. Lina and Gourry were worried, Xellos was stumped, Filia was disturbed, and Amelia was downright frightened. Eventually Amelia decided that someone needed to talk to Zelgadis, and that she was that someone. One night while the rest of the group was eating (*cough cough* battling *cough*) in a rather nice tavern, Amelia walked over to where Zelgadis was sitting.   
  
"Err, Mr. Zelgadis?"  
  
"What?" growled Zel.  
  
"Is something wrong? You've been acting, odd, lately. Would you like to talk about it?"  
  
"No." he said. Then Zel got up and started towards his room. Then, about half-way across the room he stumbled, and then collapsed on the floor and started twitching uncontrollably. Then he let out an almost unholy keening scream. All the other patrons left the bar clutching their ears while the slayers gathered around their fallen comrade to see what was wrong.  
  
"WILL SOMEBODY SHUT HIM UP" shouted Lina.  
  
"Mr. Zelgadis? What's wrong?"  
  
"Oh my, it looks serious this time." murmured Xellos.  
  
Normally nobody would have heard him over the din, but ryozoku have excellent hearing.  
  
"What do you mean THIS time? This has happened before? And you didn't TELL ANYONE?" Filia screeched. "Did you do this to him namagomi?" she then asked in a tone that not only was heard over the screaming, but also SCARED Xellos.  
  
"Yes, it has, no, he asked me to keep it secret, and no I did not." replied Xellos.  
  
"What are you talking about? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Lina demanded.  
"First of all, if you would put him to sleep, Amelia?"  
  
Amelia quickly proceeded to cast a sleep spell, and despite the seriousness of the situation, everyone felt the overwhelming urge to clean out their ears when Zel stopped screaming.  
  
"Now then," said Xellos, "You may have noticed his odd behavior lately. His mood swings are actually his other components struggling to emerge."  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. What do you mean his components?" asked Lina.  
  
"Well," continued Xellos, "you know that as a chimera, Zelgadis is made of equal parts human, golem, and brau demon. Now, up until just recently, the human Zel has had complete control, but now his other components want their turn."  
  
"But why was he screaming like that?" asked Filia, this time in an EXTREMELY worried tone.  
  
"You have just witnessed a battle of wills, a very demanding task indeed. For now, he remains balanced, but eventually, they are going to need to learn how to take turns."  
  
"Take. turns?" asked Amelia in a puzzled tone.  
  
"You should be able to see what I mean by morning."  
  
"Not good enough namagomi." growled Filia, gripping her mace so hard her knuckles were turning white. "I still think you're behind this in some way, now keep talking."  
  
"Alas, would that I could, but I must report to my mistress now. Oh, and Amelia? Keep a CLOSE eye on Zelly for me, okay?" and with that, Xellos disappeared.  
  
"Lina, what just happened?" asked Gourry.  
  
"GAAAAAAAH, JELLYFISH! MUST I EXPLAIN EVERYTHING?" Lina proceeded to bash Gourry over the head with a slipper while the rest of the present and conscious slayers engaged in mass face-fault. 


	2. Inner Demon

When Zelgadis awoke he was lying in bed. "Wha-, what? How did I." Then reality reared its head like a cobra with a hangover and Zel briefly thought "Oh crap" before he heard an "Eep" in the corner.  
  
"Mr. Zelgadis?" asked Amelia in a worried voice.  
  
"Amelia, what are you doing here?  
  
"Well, I thought you might be hurt and. Oh Mr. Zelgadis I was so worried." Amelia was nearly crying now, and without warning jumped forward and hugged Zel as best she could while he was lying down and sobbed "I was so scared." Then she realized that she was hugging Zel's waist and leaning her head on his chiseled abs (pun intended), and started blushing furiously. She blushed even more fiercely when she realized that he was hugging her back. She looked up and gasped in shock. He was changing before her eyes. His skin was still blue, but without the pebbles. His hands were clawed. His hair had been replaced by short black quills and his eyes were staring luridly at her. She tried to pull back, but he pulled her closer still and crushed his face against hers and kissed her, forcing her lips open with his tongue. At length he/it pulled back, savoring the fear wafting off her trembling body.  
  
"What's the matter?" he hissed. "Don't you like it?"  
  
Amelia did the only thing she could. She screamed. She screamed so loud that the creature that had been Zel covered his/its ears in agony. Lina heard the screaming and run into the room, kicking down the door. The sight that greeted her was horrifying. A brau demon was clutching its ears in agony. It had three-pointed feet and a thick tail, and seemed strangely familiar.  
  
"Amelia," she yelled, "get away so I can fireball it."  
  
Amelia stopped screaming and said "No, don't, it's Mr. Zelgadis."  
  
"That thing is ZEL?" Lina yelled in a disbelieving tone.  
  
At this point, the demon recovered from the screaming and leapt at Lina. Amelia took the opportunity to cast a sleep spell. The demon slumped forward, unconscious, and slowly reverted back to Zel.  
  
"Amelia, what the hell is going on?" asked Lina.  
  
"I don't know Ms. Lina, he woke up and I hugged him and he. well, transformed."  
  
"I guess now we know what Xellos meant when we talked to him last night." commented Lina.  
  
Amelia just stared at Zel's body and said "poor Mr. Zelgadis."  
  
"Come on," said Lina, "let's get the rest of the group together, there's a lot to discuss. You better tie Zel up before he regains consciousness." As Lina walked out the door, she looked back at Amelia, busily searching Zel's pack for rope. "You better come through this Zel" she murmured to herself. "She really cares for you." Then she continued through the door in search of her comrades. 


	3. Stone Face

"I still don't get it" said Gourry.  
  
"Jellyfish! You never get it" retorted Lina. After Lina had rounded up all the members (barring Xellos) she had tried to explain Zel's situation. Filia understood, but Lina decided to give up hope of Gourry figuring it out. Assembled company turned around when they heard the door creak open. Amelia came out followed by a much recovered Zelgadis.  
  
"So, err, Zel?" stammered Filia. "Are you ok?"  
  
Zel just sighed and said "This is why I didn't want you to know, I knew you would treat me even more like a dangerous freak."  
  
"That's not true Mr. Zelgadis! We're just worried for you."  
  
"Uh, Lina?" stammered Gourry, "I thought you said Zel had turned into a monster."  
  
"I always was a monster" growled Zel. "Just leave me alone."  
  
"Wow, really? Hey Lina wh-OUCH, what was that for? OUCH, hey cut it out." (mass-facefault, barring Lina and Gourry)  
  
"I'm going back to bed" said Zel, but as he turned around Amelia latched onto his shoulder.  
  
"Not yet Mr. Zelgadis, we need to talk about this."  
  
"NO" said Zel, but it didn't sound like Zel, Zel's voice normally sounded sophisticated, composed, and detached, but this voice was like heavy stone slabs, hollow, and deep. Everyone gasped at Zel in shock. Zel had always appeared elegant and slender, even thought he was made of stone. This Zel however, looked like a heavy-built statue of a Nordic giant, seven feet tall and over three feet from shoulder to shoulder, very stocky, but with blurred facial features. Filia and Lina stared in shock, Amelia was suspended from the ground by Zel's biceps, and Gourry was intently studying the wood pattern on the table he was sitting at.  
  
"Mr. Zelgadis?" Amelia hazarded.  
  
The golem gave no sign of comprehension, but stared blankly ahead.  
  
"Yo, Golem," shouted Lina.  
  
"YES MISTRESS?" grated out the huge construct.  
  
"Ms. Lina? What's going on?" squeaked Amelia.  
  
"Well," started Lina, "Golems are mindless constructs that usually only respond to commanding authority figures. A golem won't respond unless you speak as though you are its master. My guess is that Zelgadis was trying to bury his emotions, which encouraged the golem to surface."  
  
"How do we change him back?" asked Filia.  
  
"We can't," answered Lina, "only he can do that. "All we can do is wait."  
  
"Um, Mr. Zelgadis?" asked Amelia, trying to get the golem's attention.  
  
"Amelia, first of all if you are deferential to a golem, it won't hear you, second, that's not Zel. Until we find a name for it, just call it golem" said Lina. "Like this, Golem, put Amelia down."  
  
The golem slowly lowered Amelia (who was still hanging from its biceps) to the floor, then stood back up and waited for its next command.  
  
"Golem," said Lina, "get Zel."  
  
The golem somehow contorted its features into a pained expression and slowly reverted back into Zel. But this Zelgadis was different than usual. This Zelgadis, was human. 


	4. InPhase

"Ugh, I've got a headache the size of Seyruun. What? Why are you all staring at me? Is there something on my face?" asked Zel. The rest of the group just stared blankly at him.  
  
"Huh? Who's he?" asked Gourry.  
  
"What do you mean? It's me, Zelgadis."  
  
"Naah, you can't be Zelgadis, Zelgadis is a Chi-, Kime-, err, blue- thingy."  
  
(Mass Face-Fault)  
  
"GOURRY NO BAKA" shouted Lina, as she pulled a slipper out of nowhere and proceeded to bash Gourry over the head with it.  
  
Zelgadis sweat-dropped before brushing an errant strand of hair out of his face. 'Wait, hair?' he thought. He looked at his hands. "WOOHOO, I'M HUMAN AGAIN!" Zelgadis fell on his knees and just stared at his hands with a look of tearful joy on his face. Everyone else stepped back a few paces. They had never seen Zel so happy before, and it was slightly unnerving. Then Xellos phased in.  
  
"I see Zelly-chan is human now" he said with a smirk.  
  
"Do NOT call me that" growled Zelgadis.  
  
"You may want to watch that temper of yours, it may be your downfall yet" said Xellos.  
  
"And why, pray tell, would that be?" snarled Zelgadis.  
  
"See for yourself" said Xellos smugly. Xellos reached within his cloak as he spoke and produced a small mirror.  
  
"WHAT? NOOOOOOOOOO!" wailed Zel, for as he looked upon his visage, he slowly reverted to his chimera body. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? If you don't answer I swear I'll destroy you."  
  
"I didn't do anything Zel-chan, you did it yourself. You should try to avoid getting worked up like that. I'm only IN-directly responsible this time" said Xellos. "In fact," Xellos continued, "I'm here to help."  
  
"Damn fruitcake, why would YOU want to help me? What are you trying to pull?" asked Zelgadis in a suspicious voice.  
  
Filia stood up and said, "That's right, whenever you 'help' us you end up balancing it out by screwing us over."  
  
"Yare-yare* Filia-san, is that any way for a priestess to talk?" said Xellos.  
  
Filia started to blush furiously, but then growled and whipped out mace-sama, and stalked over to Xellos and proceeded to beat the crap out of him.  
  
"That's it Filia, I like it rough" purred Xellos.  
  
"XELLOS NO HENTAI!" shouted Filia, and then smashed Xellos into orbit. "Filthy namagomi."  
  
During the confusion, Zelgadis had sidled his way over to a wardrobe mirror, and was touching his face, trying to deny the existence of the stones decorating his face, and the demonic eyes that stared back at him. Then he noticed Amelia's reflection beside his. "What do you want?" he said more gruffly than he had intended.  
  
"I just wanted to tell you, I'll always be there for you, no matter what happens." Amelia then summoned all of her courage and leaned over to kiss the man she loved so much. Zelgadis saw what she was trying to do and pushed her away before she could. "But Mr. Zelgadis, I just-"  
  
"No Amelia." growled Zelgadis. "You saw what happened last time, it's not safe. I can't control myself anymore, leave me alone." Amelia's eyes filled with tears, and Zelgadis looked away, so that she couldn't see the heartbreak he felt.  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Zelgadis, if you don't like me..." Amelia looked at her feet so nobody could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"It's what's best" said Zelgadis. Then Zel stalked out of the Inn.  
  
"HEY AMELIA!" Lina shouted directly in Amelia's ear. "Are you nuts or what? Go after him."  
  
"But Ms. Lina, he doesn't lov-, err, like me that way."  
  
"Are you daft? He was just saying that to protect you" said Lina.  
  
"Protect me from what Ms. Lina?"  
  
Lina looked Amelia in the eyes and said in somber tones, "himself." 


	5. Of Many Minds

Rain was pouring, drumming down upon the muddy road. Zelgadis was fleeing as fast as he could, running from everything that still mattered.  
  
//They will never understand you, we are all you have Zelgadis. //  
  
Zelgadis's eyes shot open. "Who are you?" he said aloud.  
  
//Have you forgotten me already? This simply will not do. //  
  
"Get out of my head" roared Zelgadis.  
  
//That's it, feel the anger, the hate, set me free. //  
  
"Show yourself" stammered Zelgadis.  
  
//Do you see that puddle off the side of the road? Gaze upon it. Know me, and know thyself. //  
  
Zelgadis warily approached the large puddle, and looked into it. The sight that greeted him made him gasp in shock, for in it he saw a brau demon, a demon whose features mirrored his own.  
  
//You see? I knew you still remembered me. I won't let you forget, not in a million years. //  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
//You know what I want. Freedom, give me my freedom. //  
  
"You shall never be free you fiend."  
  
//Fiend? FIEND? I HAVE A NAME YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS BASTARD! From now on you WILL refer to me as Gargauth. //  
  
"Since when did you have a name? Did you make it up yourself?" said Zelgadis in a sarcastic tone that could cut teak.  
  
//If I didn't share your body, I would cut you down where you stood. Selfish bastard, do you think the entire multiverse revolves around you? I had a life too, do you think I wanted to become a hideous stitched-up rag- doll? You are just like Rezo. //  
  
"WHAT? HOW DARE YOU! I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM" roared Zelgadis.  
  
//Is that so? // sneered Gargauth, //You both were willing to sacrifice anything, or anyone, fore your cure. You both have no regard for the innocents caught within your inner turmoil. You are both damned beyond redemption. //  
  
"LIAR! You are just trying to trick me, to feed off of my misery."  
  
//I know it hurts, it hurts to realize that you are just an accident, nothing except a threat to those that matter. I hear your thoughts, I know the memories that rise to haunt you in the still hours of twilight. I can hear the screams, the screams of those who you heartlessly butchered. You hear them too. I know you do. I am not wholly evil, you know, at least, no more than you. I can feel your pain, and let me tell you, I cannot feed off it. No matter how much you deny it, I am a part of you, as you are a part of me. It truly pains me to see you like this. Let me help you, all I ask, is just one day a week, one day out of every week to be myself, unhindered. Not so high a price to end the torment. //  
  
"What must I do?" asked Zelgadis.  
  
\\NO, I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS. \\ thundered a gravelly voice.  
  
//You stay out of this you stupid statue. //  
  
\\YOU KNOW THIS IS WRONG ZELGADIS, DO NOT LET YOURSELF BE FOOLED BY THIS TRICKSTER. I AM YOUR SERVANT, YOUR FRIEND. EVER HAVE I SERVED YOU FAITHFULLY, SO DO I NOW PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR OWN FOLLY. A PART OF US HE MAY BE, BUT HE IS STILL MAZOKU. YOU ARE NOT DAMNED YET, BUT IF YOU FOLLOW GARGAUTH'S PATH, YOU WILL BE. \\ Said Zelgadis's golem aspect.  
  
"Grumbaar? Is that you?" asked Zelgadis.  
  
\\AS ALWAYS, MASTER \\ said the golem, respectfully.  
  
//Why must you always interfere you damnable sculpture?// growled Gargauth.  
  
\\TO KEEP YOU CONTAINED, WHERE YOU BELONG. \\ growled Grumbaar, his voice as solid and final as a tombstone.  
  
//I will be back, you cannot protect him forever Grumbaar. //  
  
\\IF NOT FOREVER, THEN AT LEAST LONG ENOUGH. \\  
  
//We shall see. //  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
One-and-Many: Dramatic, isn't it. I know it's not my best work, but I am trying. I NEED MORE REVIEWS. Please, take pity upon a delusional maniac, and give me POSITIVE feedback. 


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